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Thursday, March 8, 2018

Trump schooling China

China has been asked to develop a plan for the year of a One Billion Dollar reduction in their massive Trade Deficit with the United States. Our relationship with China has been a very good one, and we look forward to seeing what ideas they come back with. We must act soon!

17 comments:

Trump schooling China? Hilarious! Trump had to be schooled by China's President Xi on North Korea. Xi actually understands something about the world. Trump knows nothing. Like the idiot he is, Trump even confessed to his remarkable ignorance about Korea and how Xi had to explain it to him. What do you expect? Trump refuses to read intelligence briefings because he claims to already know everything, like claiming US GDP is below zero! "Whoever heard of this?" he asked. No one because it is literally impossible, but that's Trump, and he's going to school a country that went from agricultural peasantry and mass illiteracy to a global superpower in thirty years.

And what the fuck is he going to do? If Chinese consumers don't want to buy American, what is Trump or anyone else going to do about it? The Chinese state is always willing to buy all kinds of US infrastructure, but is denied on "national security grounds". Washington refused China the right to buy a port, I think, a couple of months ago. So what is China supposed to do? Trump's (and Matt's) argument is so full of holes you'd mistake it for Swiss cheese.

Anyway, given that China is reorienting its economy from an export one to a consumer one, as well as its preoccupation with its Silk Road and other commitments, the trade balance will decrease. Trump will of course claim that this is vindication of his policy and that he's "winning". The US middle and working classes will be going nowhere fast, but who cares about them.

Interestingly, Trump not so long ago was calling China "motherfuckers" and everything else under the sun but now he's praising China and its relationship with the US!

Another reasoned and intelligent reply from Matt. It is what we have now come to expect of you. No actual reply to trade imbalances or Trump's self-confessed ignorance, just puerile abuse from someone who has no reply yet continues to hold on to beliefs that are demonstrably stupid.

Trump knows nothing. Like the idiot he is, Trump even confessed to his remarkable ignorance about Korea and how Xi had to explain it to him. What do you expect?

*snicker*

"China has been asked to develop a plan for the year of a One Billion Dollar reduction in their massive Trade Deficit with the United States."

"One hundred billion dollars," not "one billion." Otherwise it does not make any freakin' sense -- unless, of course, you're an idiot, because ... idiot. Oh right -- it matters, idiot or not, when you're the President of the United States!

Full disclosure:I played the clarinet in high school. So did Steven Spielberg and a former Fed chairman. Coincidence? Maybe. What about you, John? Play(ed) any musical instrument(s)? ;)

Exports by China are an import by somebody else. In this case, US consumers want Chinese products. What's not to understand? Why not get US consumers to buy American? It's because they can't (the product isn't made in the US) or they don't want to (made in America products are too expensive or of poorer quality) and have to buy foreign.

Matt: "...they would all overwhelmingly want to move to the US and use USDs instead of their own CNY...."

Is that your argument? That poor people would like to move to a rich country (although many moneyed Chinese have no wish to live anywhere else), where there is a higher standard of living and more opportunity? That's the most incredible insight! Give the man every prize in the sciences and humanities! Other than stating something so obvious that almost no one would dare, for fear of being laughed at, you have answered absolutely nothing. To finish things off, you do what you always do when you have no argument, resort to abuse: China is a shithole. Commendable analysis, Matt.

I played piano for a very short while. Gave it up. Now wish to hell I hadn't. One of my many New Year's resolutions was to to start piano again, but then I'd have to buy a half decent piano and that's pretty expensive. But the clarinet? It's cheapish, portable, can be played anywhere. lastgreek, you've just given me an idea!

Why has better terms of trade been so wonderful for the middle and working class of China, but better terms of trade for the United States equates to: "The US middle and working classes will be going nowhere fast"

Yeah, I understand the MMT argument that imports are a benefit and exports are a cost in real terms, but, an important caveat is almost always left off of that point: AT FULL EMPLOYMENT, imports are a benefit and exports are a cost.

So long as we don't have a consistent full employment policy run at the federal level, e.g. an effective job guarantee program, then better terms of trade are a useful source of demand to a domestic economy.